186 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Early beans will usually ripen well when planted 

 as late as the middle of June. The ^lon-iinachce, or 

 Pierce bean, and Bremen, or large white six weeks 

 bean will bear planting a fortnight later than the 

 small pea bean ; and they yield about as much, and 

 sell about as high in the market ; generally, the 

 former sells higher than the pea bean. These two 

 varieties are white, and well adapted to field culture ; 

 and their early ripening is frequently an important 

 advantage. 



Turnips may be substituted for other root crops 

 which could not be planted in season. The early 

 turnip beet, the Bassano, and the Early Sugar will 

 j'ield good crops when sown as late as the middle or 

 20th of this month, if the seed be soaked a few days 

 before sowing. These roots are of excellent quality, 

 both for the table, and for stock ; and by sowing a 

 little nearer than usual, a large crop may be obtained. 



Late vegetables, when there is time for their 

 growth and maturity, generally yield the largest 

 crops ; but when it is too late to plant them with 

 a fair prospect of success, it is better to attend to 

 early kinds, which in urgent cases may come in with 

 great advantage to supply the deficiency. 



In some cases, buckwheat may be substituted for 

 other grain, and it may be sown as late as the last of 

 June. Farmers should not be discouraged from the 

 tardiness of the season. With judicious manage- 

 ment, they can yet plant with a fair promise of reap- 

 ing. 



♦' 



SALT AS MANURE. 



Common salt is a compound, consisting of the two 

 simple elements, chlorine and sodium ; three parts 

 of the former to two of the latter. The inorganic 

 elements, or those substances which plants take up 

 from the earth, are usually reckoned fourteen, two 

 of which are supplied by salt. In some plants, 

 chlorine and sodium are rather prominent, and in 

 others they are small. 



In the ashes of one thousand pounds of wheat, 

 there are, of different elements, 11.77 pounds in the 

 grain, and 35.18 pounds in the straw. In the grain 

 are 2.40 pounds sodium, and .10 pounds of chlorine. 

 In the straw are .29 pounds sodium, and .30 pounds 

 chlorine. 



In the ashes of one thousand pounds of red clover 

 (dry) arc 5.29 pounds sodium, and 3.62 pounds of 

 chlorine. 



We do not suppose that these results of chemical 

 analysis are, in every respect, correct, but they are 

 doubtless near the truth. As the simple elements 

 of salt constitute important component parts of 

 plants, it is a good manure where these elements do 

 not already abound. 



On old lands, these elements become in a measure 

 exhausted, unless restored by the application of salt 

 manures, or the free use of salt hay on the farm ; or 

 on lands near the sea, salt in sufficient quantity may 

 be supplied by salt spray. In some cases of high 

 winds, in severe storms, the salt spray is carried con- 

 siderable distance inland, so as to affect seriously 



some kinds of trees, and other vegetable productions. 

 So it is evident that some lands are greatly im- 

 proved by the application of salt, while others aiti 

 already abundantly supplied with it. Again, some 

 plants require a large quantity of salt, or those simple 

 elements of which it is composed, while others con- 

 tain but A'cry little in their composition. This is 

 like a thousand other subjects in agriculture. We 

 have before us a vast field for experiments, with 

 numerous variations and modifications from soil, 

 climate, season, crops, and other circumstances. 



On most lands, and for most crops, salt is a good 

 manure, and its utility, in point of economy, depends 

 on its price, the price of other manures, the price of 

 produce, &c. On old lands, it is valuable for destroy- 

 ing insects, and in England it is frequently used for 

 this purpose, even where it has no important bene- 

 ficial effects as a manure. 



Various quantities of salt are applied as a manure, 

 according to the crop ; usually from five to ten or 

 fifteen bushels. From five to seven bushels to the 

 acre, for turnips and cabbages, has an excellent effect 

 in destroying worms, and promoting the growth of 

 the plants. It is an excellent manure for all the 

 turnip and cabbage tribe, and similar plants, such as 

 mustard, &c. 



Salt is a good manure in old orchards for all kinds 

 of fruit-trees. Apply eight or ten bushels to the 

 acre. For plum-trees, twenty bushels to the acre, 

 or half a peck to a square rod. Asparagus requires 

 more salt than any other plant we cultivate. A suit- 

 able quantity is one hundred and sixty bushels to 

 the acre, or one bushel to a square rod. Dock mud, 

 or other salt manure, may be cheaper than salt, and 

 if it cost much, it will not be profitable to use it so 

 Uberally. 



We cannot give definite rules for the use of salt, 

 nor show the precise advantage to the crop in its use. 

 We have used a mixture of wood ashes, salt, and 

 plaster in turnip drills, only a moderate dressing, and 

 obtained as large a crop of turnij^s as from decom- 

 posed stable manure and ashes, and the cost, both of 

 the manure and the application, were much less. 

 But we cannot say how much each ingredient in- 

 creased the crop. We have tried each substance 

 separately, with an equal expense to each drill, with- 

 out any satisfactory result, otherwise than each 

 seemed to be nearly equally beneficial. 



Will our readers who have made any useful exper- 

 iments on the use of salt, give us the result of theii- 

 experience. 



Getting Good by doing Good. — Benevolence is 

 a fundamental law of our moral being ; and the man 

 who labors for his fcUow-mcn secures thereby the 

 gratification of his most commanding principles of 

 action ; but he who labors for himself alone, stirs up 

 against his own peace some of the most operative 

 elements of his worst nature. 



Burr Millstones. — The Burr millstones pro- 

 duced in Georgia are said to be fully equal to the 

 best French. 



